Starring:
Omri Katz as Marshall Teller
Justin Shenkarow as Simon Holmes
Mary-Margaret Humes as Marilyn Teller
Francis Guinan as Edgar Teller
Julie Condra as Syndi Teller
Jason Marsden as Dash-X
Claude Akins as Grungy Bill
John Astin as Radford
Archie Hahn as Fred Suggs
Written by: Karl Schaefer
Directed by: Joe Dante
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This episode also has another revelation up its sleeve: that the man we had come to know as Mr. Radford—owner of the World o' Stuff general store, you will recall--was actually an impostor; the real Radford was tied up in the basement the whole time. (In a humorous moment, Marshall asks the real Radford why he's not going to press charges, to which he responds: “Well, despite all his faults, that guy was one hell of a salesman. He moved more merchandise in six months with me tied up in the basement, than I made in my best year.”)
Since Marshall and Simon happen to be the first customers after the impostor is taken away (no one realized the completely different look of the “new” Radford?), Radford treats them to free drinks, and then notices that they have pictures of the Ol' Hitchock Mill, which is rumored to be haunted. He recounts the story of “Grungy Bill”, who has the unfortunate distinction of being “the worst bank robber east of the Mississippi.” (In another silly exchange, Simon mistakes Radford's meaning. “Really evil, huh?” “No! The worst! As in, no good, incompetent, 'don't quit your day job' worst.”) According to legend, he was arrested twelve times...in twelve attempts robbing the Bank of Erie. On the thirteenth time, the talentless would-be thief forgot the most important tool to someone in his line of work—his gun—and he ended up perishing after police tracked him down to the mill and filled it, and Bill, full of holes.
Of course now Marshall and Simon have their interest even more piqued, so they return to the mill to find evidence that a ghost exists. Instead, they find man-made contraptions that lend themselves well to ghostly effects, such as a chair set up to a pulley system (that can make it look like it's levitating), and a long brass tube that can emulate ghostly voices. What's more, is they also find evidence that someone is living in the old mill. Who would be crazy to do such a thing?
Well, this is where Dash-X enters the picture (as played by Jason Marsden), in all his gravel-voiced glory (I will admit it's kind of funny to hear a teenaged kid have the voice of a man who has smoked for fifty years). He doesn't take kindly to visitors, and demands that Marshall and Simon give him any evidence that they had been there, such as photos and tapes. As he steps on the video tape to smash it (“This is one tape that's not going to be on America's Stupidest Home Videos”), he inadvertently reveals a small opening under the floorboard, which houses a rusty gun. Why, it's Grungy Bill's!
While waving it around, Dash-X accidentally sets it off, which then releases the spirit of Bill (and leads Simon to quip, “I hate guns! I hate 'em, I hate 'em, I hate 'em!” which somehow strikes me as adorably cute, and also very similar to my own viewpoint of the weapons). It seems he's been spending the last hundred years formulating a special plan to rob the Bank of Erie, and he's enlisted Marshall to help him (His plan? Bring a gun and demand money.) So Marshall ties up Dash and Simon, and heads to the bank with Grungy Bill. (In yet another scene worthy of mention, a bound Dash-X asks a bound Simon, “Does this kind of stuff happen to you guys a lot,” to which Simon exasperatedly replies, “At least once a week.”)
The robbing duo arrive at the Bank of Erie, with Marshall in full disguise (he looks like a woman from the 1800s). As if being an unwilling participant in a robbery attempt wasn't bad enough, there's a huge problem compounding matters...Marshall's family enters the bank, lured in by the promise of a free toaster with every new account opened. Well through a series of events, Grungy Bill's plan is foiled yet again...or is it? In the series' most inexplicably (and unexpectedly) hilarious moment, he vows that he's not leaving without robbing the place, and fulfills that promise by grabbing a (free) toaster, and marching out the door with it.
Having been successful in his attempt to rob the Bank of Erie, and with his now-rusted gun in a million pieces courtesy of Dash-X, his spell is broken. In yet another clever twist, his spirit now haunts the toaster, seeing that his gun is destroyed and unusable, something that Marshall and Simon add to their collection.
The second-half of this series seemed to embrace the humorous more than the first, and this is the prototypical example of such an episode. That's not to say that early episodes weren't funny or lighthearted—this show has (almost) always been about that—but this one ups the sillymeter to crazy proportions...literally none of it is meant to be taken seriously.
Aside from the toaster theft, I remembered not liking this episode all that much (I'm viewing most of these episodes for a second time, as we blew through them too quickly for me to review them the first; this is why all reviews are way late), but upon a second viewing, it's really not all that bad. Most of the jokes land soundly, and there are even a couple callbacks (including a reference to Foreverware, from the first episode, in the bank) to reward faithful viewers of the show. This won't go down as any sort of classic, even within this show's nineteen episodes, but it's a great singular example of what this show was all about.
EPISODE RATING: 7.5/10
While waving it around, Dash-X accidentally sets it off, which then releases the spirit of Bill (and leads Simon to quip, “I hate guns! I hate 'em, I hate 'em, I hate 'em!” which somehow strikes me as adorably cute, and also very similar to my own viewpoint of the weapons). It seems he's been spending the last hundred years formulating a special plan to rob the Bank of Erie, and he's enlisted Marshall to help him (His plan? Bring a gun and demand money.) So Marshall ties up Dash and Simon, and heads to the bank with Grungy Bill. (In yet another scene worthy of mention, a bound Dash-X asks a bound Simon, “Does this kind of stuff happen to you guys a lot,” to which Simon exasperatedly replies, “At least once a week.”)
The robbing duo arrive at the Bank of Erie, with Marshall in full disguise (he looks like a woman from the 1800s). As if being an unwilling participant in a robbery attempt wasn't bad enough, there's a huge problem compounding matters...Marshall's family enters the bank, lured in by the promise of a free toaster with every new account opened. Well through a series of events, Grungy Bill's plan is foiled yet again...or is it? In the series' most inexplicably (and unexpectedly) hilarious moment, he vows that he's not leaving without robbing the place, and fulfills that promise by grabbing a (free) toaster, and marching out the door with it.
Having been successful in his attempt to rob the Bank of Erie, and with his now-rusted gun in a million pieces courtesy of Dash-X, his spell is broken. In yet another clever twist, his spirit now haunts the toaster, seeing that his gun is destroyed and unusable, something that Marshall and Simon add to their collection.
The second-half of this series seemed to embrace the humorous more than the first, and this is the prototypical example of such an episode. That's not to say that early episodes weren't funny or lighthearted—this show has (almost) always been about that—but this one ups the sillymeter to crazy proportions...literally none of it is meant to be taken seriously.
Aside from the toaster theft, I remembered not liking this episode all that much (I'm viewing most of these episodes for a second time, as we blew through them too quickly for me to review them the first; this is why all reviews are way late), but upon a second viewing, it's really not all that bad. Most of the jokes land soundly, and there are even a couple callbacks (including a reference to Foreverware, from the first episode, in the bank) to reward faithful viewers of the show. This won't go down as any sort of classic, even within this show's nineteen episodes, but it's a great singular example of what this show was all about.
EPISODE RATING: 7.5/10
FULL EPISODE
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